"Washington at the Battle of Monongahcla ;" "News from Lexington;" "Washington at Princeton;" "Lafayette in Prison at Olmütz visited by his Relatives" (1801); "Westward Ho;" portraits of Washington, Lincoln, Grant, and General Burnside; "Washington Crossing the Delaware" (1851-52), Metropolitan Museum, New York, and Kunsthalle, Bremen.
LEVAILLANT, If-vi'yaN', François (1753-1824). A Frcncli ornithologist and traveler, born
at Paramaribo, Uutcli (luiana. From 1781 to
1785 he traveled in Scmth Africa, studying the
natives and making collections of the bird.s and
large mammals. His works include: Voyage dans
rintcrieur de I'Afriguc (1790); Second voyage
(1796); and Uistoire naturelle des oiseaux
d'Afriijue (1796-1812).
LEVANT (OF., Fr. lerani, ML. levanis,
Orient, sunrise, from Lat. Icvare, to raise, from
levis, light). The. A name employed throughout
the whole of Europe to designate the eastern
parts of the Mediterranean !Sea and adjacent
countries. In a wider sense, it is applied vaguely
to the regions eastward fniin Italy, as far as the
Euphrates and the Xilc; but more generally is
used in a more restricted sense, as including only
the coasts of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt.
LEVATII FA'CIAS (Lat., do thou cause to
be levied), Wkit ok. In English law, an ancient
writ of execution issued >ipon a judgment, by
which the judgment creditor takes the real and
personal estate, such as lands, houses, and fur-
niture of his debtor to satisfy his debt. The
mode by which this was done was by the sheriff
drawing the rents and paying the creditor. The
writ is now practically superseded by the writ
of elf git (q.v. ) as regards real estate, and fieri
facias (q.v.) as regards personal estate.
LEVASSETJK, Ic-vii'ser', Emile (1828—). A
French political economist and statistician,
born December 8, 1828. in Paris. After study-
ing at the College Bourbon he became a pro-
fessor in the Lyceum at Alenqon. He held this
position for two years, and then went to Besan-
Con. In 1850 he received an appointment at tlie
Saint Louis Lyceum in Paris, and in 1872 became
a professor in the Coll^ge de France. He had
previously (1868) been elected a member of the
Academy. He was active in promoting the inter-
national congresses for the discussion of statis-
tical and geographical topics, and wa.s one of the
founders of tlie Kn'uch Society of Commercial
Geography. His works include: Investigation
sar le syst<}me de Law (1854) ; La question d'or
(1858): L'histoire des classes ouvriires en
France (1859); Prfcis dVconomie politique, La
population franraise (1880-91) ; La France et ses
colonies (189.3); L'enscignernent primaire dans
les pays colonists (1897). He was a visitor to
the United States on the occasion of the Colum-
bian Exposition, and spent several months in the
study of economic conditions in the United
States. The fruits of his researches are em-
bodied in his works L'ngriculture aux Flats-
Vnis (1895) and //'ouvrier nm^ricoin (1898).
LEVEE (Pr. levfe, a raising, embankment,
from lever, to raise, from Lat. lerare, to raise).
The name applied to an embankment constructed
along the margin of a river to restrain its
waters within the natural channel during floods,
and particularly the name given to the flood
embankments of the Mississippi River. The so-
called dikes of Holland and of various European
rivers and the flood embankments of the rivers
Danube, "istula, and Po are examples of levees
according to the American usage of that term.
The levees of the Jlississippi River aggregate
over 1200 miles in lengtli, and arc strung along
a stretch of about 1000 miles of river from Cairo
to the Mexican Gulf. The construction and main
tenance of these levees are in charge of commis-
sions liiaintained by the various States bordering
on the river, and of a similar organization main-
tained by the United States Government and
known as the Mississippi River Commission.
The Mississippi River Commission did its first
work of levee building in 1SS2, but the various
State commissions had begun construction long
before that time. The Government levees are
built to standard forms and dimensions var3'ing
with the height of the embankment required ;
roughly described they are embankments of earth
having a broad bottimi and narrower top and
sloping sides. They are constructed by deposit-
ing earth in two-foot layers on a foundation
cleared of all roots and stumps, and thoroughly
jdowed, and then sodding the top and sides
with Bermuda grass at two-foot intervals. For
a recent description of the Mississippi River
levees, consult: Starling, "The Levees of the
Mississippi River," Engineering Neies, vol. xxv. ;
and Copee, "Standard Levee Sections," Trans-
actions of the American Society of Civil Engi-
nccr.s.vol.'xxxix. ( See Drain.^ge ; Embankment.)
The article Misslssippi Ri-er contains a full ac-
count of the history and construction of the
various improvements on that river, including
the .system of levees.
LEVEE. The state ceremonial of any sovereign receiving visits from those subjects whose
position entitles them to that honor. By the
usage of the Court of Great Britain, a levee
difTers from a drawing-room in this respect, that
gentlemen only arc present (excepting the chief
ladies of the Court), while at a drawing-room
both ladies and gentlemen appear. The name
arises from the ceremonial attending the rising
of the King of France under Louis XIV. and his
successors. The grand lever was the more public,
after the King had been shaved and invested with
his wig; the petit lever, more intimate, was held
immediately after he had been awakened and had
said his prayers. Even to this a large number of
privileged people were admitted, successively in
five classes, comprising not only the royal family,
but all kinds of officials, domestic, civil, and
military. Und^r Louis XVI., whose tastes were
simple and who rose at seven or eight o'clock,
the ceremonial lever was usually postponed until
half-past eleven, thus approximating more nearly
to the modern levee. The term has also been ap-
plied to any gathering of a number of persons at
various hours, and in the United States is fre-
quently used to designate the public receptions
of the President.
LEVEL (OF. livel, lireau. Uveal, nirel, niveau,
Fr. niveau, Sp. nivel, nirello. Port, livel, nivehlt.
livello, from Lat. Uhelln, level, balance, diminu-
tive of libra, balance, pound). A name especially
used in ore-mining and referring to the horizontal
excavations made at regular intervals from a
shaft (q.v.). They are commonly 50 or 100 feet
apart vertically, and in veins usually run parallel
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